How to Make Your Ideas Impossible to Ignore
Your brilliant idea just died in a meeting. Here's why and how to fix it.
Our Latest Articles.
From practical team dynamics to strategic vision-setting, we share fresh insights, test new approaches, and dig into the real challenges facing design leaders today.
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A workflow to ship better designed software with LLMs
I've been experimenting with different approaches for shipping my designs with the help of LLMs. I've found a process that is working really well.
Are you willing to be the designer that has influence?
We all want to be the type of designer who has influence at work. Are you willing to be the designer that has it? Let’s find out.
Design leaders who stand out most, grow in five key areas
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Emotional Intelligence
23 posts
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Business Acumen
15 posts
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Relationship Management
15 posts
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Operational Management
14 posts
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Strategic Foresight
13 posts
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design leadership
10 posts
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Personal Growth
7 posts
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Communication
7 posts
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WYSIWYG
6 posts
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design career
4 posts
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Make Design Desirable
4 posts
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Campus Notes
3 posts
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business skills for designers
3 posts
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design metrics
3 posts
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Product Management
2 posts
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design strategy
2 posts
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Technology
2 posts
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stakeholder management
2 posts
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Design
2 posts
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design goals
2 posts
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prove design value
2 posts
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design ROI
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strategic designer
1 post
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leadership for designers
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POKR framework
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stakeholder communication
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design value
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communicate design value
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design director
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design leadership skills
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design director skills
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designer business skills
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strategic design
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OKRs for design
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design strategy map
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strategy map template
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design planning
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design director interview
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MBA for designers
1 post
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design education
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design politics
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creative leadership course
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creative leadership
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design team OKRs
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Events
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Four-Fits
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Audio Tips
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Metrics
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Portfolio
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AI
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Career Transition
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Customer Support
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Vibe Coding
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design scorecard
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OKRs for design teams
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design executive
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business thinking
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designer to manager
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design manager
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new design manager
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present design to executives
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design presentations
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executive buy-in
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ROI of design
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measure design impact
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first 90 days design leader
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new design director
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books
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Latest Articles
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The essential components of Business Models and Business Strategy for design leaders
Today, “business model” and “strategy” are among the most sloppily used terms in business; Learn the basics and make it all make sense.
AI
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6 basic business terms and concepts every designer should know
Here are six essential concepts you can add to your skillset that will help you align good design to good business
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Rapidly calculate (and recalculate) your design team priorities
Plays are the epitome of CDO School. CDO School Plays are structured steps and actions to help you make meaningful
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The CDO School Design Leadership Playbook
The CDO School Design Leadership Playbook is disruptive to conventional design leadership wisdom. At CDO School, we are focused on helping you make design a more relevant, indispensable, and valued business unit at your company.
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Four categories of product quality (and design) health
Adding quality factors products and services that help teams make decisions around quality, and tracking the effectiveness of those decisions
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5 things Design VPs are paid to do differently than a Director or Manager
The biggest development issue in design leadership today is that many Design VPs* still think and act like Managers/Directors. Here's what's expected of you.
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Value-based decision making
Distinguish between two different types of values, “actual” and “perceived”, to ensure you're communicating value in the way executives expect.
AI
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The questions I ask during an interview to know if I want the job.
Fundamentally, I want to know if the job I’m interviewing for will be a good fit for me. Here’s a quick, 3-step process to find the signals that tell you this is the job for you.
AI
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The ultimate list of Design and DesignOps metrics
Getting started with metrics as a designer can be difficult! Here's a list of some common metrics you and your teams can use.
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Growing as a design leader–an interview with Christina Goldschmidt
Christina Goldschmidt, Warner Music Group’s VP Product Design, on how she creates repeatable systems through brain hacking, has learned to give things away, maintains her core self, and much more.
AI
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Track good design with four logical, measurable categories of desirability health – introducing POKRs
Expanding traditional OKR methodology with Perspectives – categories that show strategic objectives connect and build upon one another.
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5 steps to find stakeholders and key collaborators who will champion your ideas.
There will always be people who are skeptical of design. Great design leaders focus on early adopters and executives who will be your champions.
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Active listening is a powerful way to grow your influence–and it's learnable
Learn a dialogue script to practice active listening with your colleagues to ask for small behavior changes.
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Create strong business cases with The Situation, Complication, Resolution (SCR) framework
When it comes to communicating business rationale, a great communication structure can make or break your presentation. Learn the secret structure used by top consultancies around the world.
AI
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SWOT and SOAR; your stakeholders' favorite way to evaluate risk
Learn two of the most effective ways to make a hard decision and get a clear, shared plan moving forward.